MAA: Merger Means Modest Job Growth

By Amos Maki

MAA expects modest job growth in Memphis from its merger with Colonial Properties Trust and believes its current headquarters can absorb any new employees that may arrive.

BOLTON

“We think there will be some job growth here I suspect by putting the combined corporate headquarters for the new company here but I would expect most of that would be lower-level management or clerical in nature,” said Eric Bolton, MAA CEO.

Bolton will serve as CEO and chairman of the board of the new company.

Most of MAA’s roughly 1,300 employees are based in the field and not Memphis. Bolton said job growth would be minimal because mergers seek to eliminate redundancies. Colonial has around 900 employees.

“One of the things you hope to accomplish when you put two very similar companies together like this is there are some efficiencies to be gained and duplications of cost that you hope to eliminate and create a better margin for the company,” Bolton said.

The combination of Birmingham, Ala.-based Colonial and Memphis-based MAA will create the second-largest multifamily real estate investment trust in the country, including 85,000 units in 285 properties, including big markets like Atlanta, Houston and Orlando, Fla. The combined company would have a total market capitalization of $8.6 billion.

The merger, which is expected to be finalized in the third quarter, led to questions about whether Memphis would see an increase in higher-paying jobs and whether the new company would need more office space, but Bolton doesn’t expect either to happen. MAA owns its corporate headquarters at 6584 Poplar Ave. in East Memphis.

“I think we’ll add a few positions here but it won’t be huge,” Bolton said. “What growth we expect at the corporate staffing level we’ll probably be able to accommodate it at this building and don’t anticipate needing to do anything outside this building at the time being.”